US stocks rose on Monday on high expectations of President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary. Investors also looked forward to Federal Reserve-backed inflationary pressures.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the advances, rising about 250 points, or about 0.6%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose nearly 0.7%.
Stocks are entering a holiday-shortened week with a more optimistic mood lifting the numbers to weekly gains. The markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and close early Friday. The Dow Jones closed at a record high last week and has gained almost 2% this week. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both rose more than 1.5%, moving closer to their original post-election levels.
Trump tapped Bessent, seen as the “investor’s favorite choice” for the U.S. Treasury Department, late Friday night after a surprisingly lengthy process in which the candidates’ shares seemed to rise and fall by the day. Bessent’s appointment appeared to at least temporarily calm nerves over the president-elect’s inflation agenda, with 10-year Treasury yields (^TNX) falling to 4.36%.
On the inflation front, the Fed will get its preferred view ahead of Trump’s term with the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index on Wednesday. Economists expect a rise in the ‘core’ PCE, which is closely monitored by the central bank.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) was chasing a $100,000 per coin milestone amid a nearly 50% surge in the past month. It was hovering around $98,000 early Monday.
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